A Sweet Vtuber Nightmare

Hawaii

"And then, before summer started, I burned away."

They called me over for a karaoke party, they did one almost every month, but this was the fourth party they invited me to, after all, I guess even they need a moment away from as many men as possible, including me, to be called in these parties had been always good, they were used to have me come over and we actually had a lot of fun together, just a bunch of good friends singing and drinking, but when I open the door, they were dead silent.

"Hello, sorry I may be... late... did something happen?" I ask confused, Ai stands from her spot and shoves her phone in my face, "You finally did it, you piece of shit," I look at the phone, she was showing me a forum post from a Vtuber fan website about stuff that only they and I knew, and about having sexual relationships with them, I stand the dead cold, trembling and feeling my soul leaving my body, how could something like this happen? Ai grabs me by the neck of my shirt and pulls me closer, "Say something! Look at my face and say you didn't do it!" She's mad, there's no doubt about it, her tone is shaky and it's filled with both anger and a strong wish to cry, everyone looks at me in silence, ah, I know that face, is that soulless look you give to someone who has disappointed you.

I try to breathe and think as fast as possible, where did I slip? Did I ever tell someone about it by mistake? And what do I answer them? Is there really an answer in this situation that helps me to save something that seems already lost? "I... I'm sorry, there's no way I can give you an answer that will satisfy any of you, I have failed you..." I say while looking at the floor, for the first time in my life, I confirm that Ai is capable to hit people in a situation of big stress, I know because she slapped me, once because she was mad, twice, with the same hand, on the same cheek, because she felt powerless and frustrated, "You're dead to me, never show your face up to me again," she mumbled, after that, the other girls stand, and one by one, without saying a word, they just splashed their glasses with juice on my face, once they were gone, I collapsed in front of the door and started crying, if trust is the most important thing in this world, how could I do something that messed it up this bad?

April and June passed by fast, I found a job at a motel that specialized in women clients, it wasn't hard and I started to get regulars pretty fast, the boss was happy about it too, but I still felt empty inside, everything I am at this point was thanks to them, and to use what I learned with them in other women didn't feel right. The boss noticing something was happening to me, decides to give me July off and get me reservations at a hotel in Hawaii, I found it kind of stereotyped at first, a Japanese going to Hawaii to expend their vacations it's so cliché, but I ended accepting anyway.

How someone so fortunate can be so miserable? I ask myself while lying on a beach chair in a reserved part of the hotel that was just for clients, I lose the notion of the time digging into my thoughts; the sun is probably cooking my foreign skin as it passes by, and for morbid curiosity, I try to remember the name of the site where the publication was made, after Googling it a couple of times, I find it, but when I click on it I read something that makes me sit on the chair by the shock: "The activity on this site was terminated in January of the year 20XX" What does this mean? This is the site where Ai got the post, I'm sure of it, and when the incident happened, April was almost beginning! What in the world is happening? I keep searching, looking for the owners of the site, looking for their names, one lace takes me to another until I find a familiar name and number, I dig into my contact search, it is the number of one of the staff member's of Ai's production team, and before I can even yell in surprise, a splash of water drenches my face, "Haha! Got ya! You're dead!" a familiar voice shouts from the distance, my heart beating fast, in the rays of the sun I can see Hinata wearing sunglasses and childish one-piece swimsuit while pointing at me with a water soaker, her smile turns to one conflicted expression, I know what she's feeling, I'm feeling it too, we run into each other and hug tightly, almost laughing, almost crying, "W-what is happening? Did you really come all the way here?!" I say, tears pouring down my face, "Not only her," a couple of voices say from my back, I turn away still shocked, my heart feels like it's about to jump out of my chest at any moment, Siro and Kizuna are both sitting on the beach chairs, both wearing bikinis, I see the rest of the girls walking to us from the distance, bringing a beach parasol and a picnic basket with them. Hinata helps me to walk back to my chair, she rubs my back as I try my best to stop crying, "See?! I told you we went too far!" The catgirl screams at Kizuna, who gasps and blushes at the same time, "We needed to make it this way alright?!" Ai answers while pouting, the girls giggle, I'm just so overwhelmed with emotions I don't know what to ask first, "How... What is happening?" I manage to say, Ai sits properly and clears her throat, "Congratulations, you passed our most important test... and the final one," She bows to me and takes a deep breath, "Even after... all we did to you a couple of months ago, and after we throw you under the bus like that, you didn't speak about us with anyone, and for that, we are thankful, and sorry for the way we treated you," this time everyone bows, I want to be mad, I really want to, I want to yell at them and let them know how this manipulation made me feel, but I can't help but show a wide smile, mixed with my tears, they all look at me, helpless and guilty, "I'm so glad... For a moment I did think I betrayed all of you," I say, trying to pull myself together, I can see how bad they all feel now, even though it is not my intention to guilt-trip them, I really can't think straight at this moment.

Ai walks and sits on the chair with me, everyone stars to unpack the things they brought and the air is filled with awkward silence and the sounds of the waves until she holds my hand tightly and speaks, "I love you..." I turn to her, shocked, more than I've ever been in all this time, and especially this last 30 min, the others stay silent, looking at us with the corner of their eyes, she continues, "Even though I shouldn't, I love you... I don't, even know your name, or your family, or even your past, but I love you, will you... accept these selfish feelings of mine... and us, and stay with us a bit longer?" That is probably the hardest thing she has had to say to anyone, and I've never seen her this honest, the emotional armor she usually wears, that one that doesn't let anyone get through her real thoughts, she has tossed it away, and she did it for me, "...How long is 'a bit longer'?" I ask in doubt, she flusters as everyone stops dissimulating and looks at her waiting for an answer, "I, don't know... maybe two... or ten more years," she holds on me with both hands and kisses me, "I just know I can't find meaning to a complete life now... no one here can... so please, stay with us as long as it's possible... stay with us and love us." Her words hit me like a truck, front and back, even though she knows she's asking the impossible, even though she knows she's being incredibly selfish, even though they all admit no one will ever be able to have a proper relationship with, she had the guts to follow me until this place and ask me the impossible, for her sake, and everyone's, I hold her face with my left hand, I kiss her softly on the lips, "I will stay with all of you, even if it kills me, I too want to stay with you a bit longer."

END

"Y'know, I've been meaning to ask, how do you girls always know where am I?" I ask all of a sudden, realizing they once again have chased me up to Hawaii, Ai takes my phone out of my pocket and searches on the menu, and shoves it on my face to show an application with her face, hidden between some folders, "I put a tracking device on your phone the first time we met, seriously, what kind of people doesn't lock their phone?"